The new 4,300 square-foot EmPATH unit at Griffin Hospital features a large, open common space with high ceilings, natural light, exterior views, and soothing décor.
The EmPATH Unit at Griffin Hospital includes sensory rooms with patient-controlled lighting and music, which will act as a safe space to help patients regulate emotions.
For the press release, click on yesterday's blog post:
https://thevalley-voicect.blogspot.com/2025/10/griffin-health-in-derby-opens-states.html
DERBY - Griffin Health took a bold step forward in addressing the state’s growing demand for mental health crisis services by opening Connecticut’s first Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment, and Healing (EmPATH) Unit at Griffin Hospital.
Griffin cut the ribbon on the new 4,300 square-foot unit at a donor recognition and dedication celebration at the hospital on Oct. 8, adding to Griffin’s legacy of innovation in person-centered care.
“This unit makes a statement to patients and families that this hospital cares about them,” Griffin Health President and CEO Patrick Charmel said. “The healing environment in the EmPATH is equivalent to the exceptional comfort and care we provide in any of our inpatient units and, in fact, goes beyond. This is taking Griffin’s person-centered care to another level, and it tells a psychiatric patient that this organization understand them and their needs, and that we want to meet them.”
An EmPATH unit represents a new approach in behavioral healthcare, offering a calming therapeutic space for patients in emotional crisis instead of hospital emergency departments (EDs). With a shortage of behavioral health services statewide, individuals in emotional crisis are often brought to EDs by crisis centers, law enforcement, and well-meaning family members.
However, EDs are limited in their ability to provide the therapeutic care required, leaving many without the specialized support they urgently need.
Due to patient safety concerns, treatment of mental health crisis patients in an ED can seem cold and add to the stigma of the health condition, said Lindsay Slaybaugh MSN, RN NE-BC, director of Griffin Hospital's Emergency Department, as patients’ belongings and clothes are taken away and, due to a lack of treatment rooms, they are sometimes put into a bed in the hallway.
“It is an uncompassionate way to receive care when you are already at a low point in life,” Slaybaugh said. “This unit is very exciting because now we are giving patients a place that is full of warmth and color and empathy when they really need it. We can initiate group therapy and provide additional support that you can’t when the patient is in a bed in the hallway of the emergency department.
“We think this is a great thing for our patients, families and community. This is what Griffin does best. We get creative. We think outside the box and we put the patients first, giving them medical care from our hearts.”
Griffin’s EmPATH unit features a large, open common space with high ceilings, natural light, exterior views and soothing décor.
Staffed by psychiatrists, social workers, and trained nurses, the EmPATH Unit includes sensory rooms with patient-controlled lighting and music, which will act as a safe space to help regulate emotions, earphones to listen to music and make private phone calls, tables for socializing, a nourishment station for snacks, a shower room, and physician consultation and family rooms for visitors.
The Griffin EmPATH unit is one of more than 30 across the country. Conceived by Dr. Scott Zeller in Alameda County, California in the early 2010s, the first EmPATH opened in Kentucky in July 2024.
These pioneering units have reported significant success, routinely stabilizing 75% of patients experiencing psychiatric emergencies in less than 24 hours, reducing the need for hospitalization, and decreased crisis readmissions by 25%, all while eliminating many of the traumatic aspects of traditional emergency psychiatric care.
Once discharged, patients in the EmPATH unit are referred to outpatient psychiatry services. In preparation for the EmPATH unit, Griffin increased its capacity for intensive outpatient psychiatric programs with new locations in Shelton and Hamden, ensuring a comprehensive response to the growing mental health needs of the community.
“This EmPATH Unit will be truly transformational and it’s something that we think will serve as a model for other hospitals here in Connecticut and throughout the Northeast because this is the standard of care that psychiatric patients deserve and this is what they and their families want,” Charmel said.
This is a press release from Griffin Health.
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An EmPATH unit that will offer a new approach in behavioral health is planned at Griffin Hospital in Derby.
DERBY - A $1 million gift from The Hewitt Foundation has enabled the establishment of Connecticut's first Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment, and Healing (EmPATH) Unit at Griffin Hospital.
This pioneering unit represents a bold step forward in addressing the growing demand for mental health crisis services, offering specialized help to Connecticut residents in desperate need of specialized care.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 41% of adults in Connecticut have experienced symptoms of anxiety or depression, while 121,000 adults are living with serious mental illness.
“The Hewitt Foundation is honored to support Griffin’s pioneering efforts in behavioral health crisis care,” said Harry P. DiAdamo, treasurer of the Hewitt Foundation. “We encourage individuals, foundations, and businesses to join us in making this vision a reality and in ensuring a healthier future for those desperately in need of focused and compassionate help.”
With a shortage of behavioral health services statewide, individuals in emotional crisis are often brought to hospital emergency departments (EDs) by crisis centers, law enforcement, and well-meaning family members.
However, EDs are limited in their ability to provide the therapeutic care required, leaving many without the specialized support they urgently need.
“Over the past three years, mental health crisis cases at Griffin Hospital’s Emergency Department have surged by 50%, with one in seven patients seeking crisis care,” said Maria Dawe, MD, Chair of the Griffin Health Psychiatry Department. “This influx not only overwhelms our capacity - it delays care for all patients.
“The EmPATH Unit will expand services for community members in psychiatric crisis with a compassionate, dignified and patient-focused approach in a specially designed and reserved environment. This approach exclusively focuses on improving and expediting positive outcomes.”
An EmPATH Unit represents a new approach in behavioral healthcare, offering a calming therapeutic space for patients in emotional crisis. Unlike traditional EDs, this unit prioritizes rapid, personalized care in a soothing 4,300 square-foot environment that includes a large, open common space with high ceilings, natural light, exterior views, and soothing décor.
Staffed by psychiatrists, social workers, and trained nurses, the EmPATH Unit will feature sensory rooms with patient-controlled lighting and music, which will act as a safe space to help regulate emotions, tables for socializing, a nourishment station for snacks, shower room, and physician consultation and family rooms for visitors.
The evidence for this approach is compelling. Similar pioneering units across the country have stabilized 75% of patients experiencing psychiatric emergencies in less than 24 hours, reducing the need for hospitalization, and decreased crisis readmissions by 25%, all while eliminating many of the traumatic aspects of traditional emergency psychiatric care.
Recognition opportunities for visionary donors
Additional support is needed to fully realize Griffin’s transformative vision.
By joining this effort, donors have a rare opportunity to be part of a revolutionary approach to mental health care that will serve as a model throughout Connecticut and beyond. Donors will also have a special opportunity to be recognized within this innovative space through naming options, including the main treatment area and individual healing rooms.
To view an insightful video and learn more about the EmPATH Unit as well as naming opportunities, visit griffinhealth.org/supportempath or contact Griffin Hospital Development Fund Executive Director Kristy Jelenik at kjelenik@griffinhealth.org or 203-732-7539.
This is a press release from Griffin Health.
